Author: boolie

Secret Code

Yellow bumps on the ramp from the sidewalk to the street emerge from the snow in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Oregon

I found this hidden message emerging from the snow. I think it’s in Morse Code, does anyone know the meaning of dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot? I’m starting to wonder if their keyboard got stuck.

Rise of the Samwise

A close-up of our cat Sam curled up on top of the cat tree

The internal medicine specialist called yesterday and said all of Sam’s test results looked fantastic, and since he is doing so well on the new fiber-laden food, the plan is to keep him on it and see if that continues. The little fellow’s energy levels never dipped too badly but he is on full song now, tearing into his favorite catnip toy with abandon. This picture of Sam atop the cat tree with catnip sprinkled around him is from October, shortly before his health issues started.

On High

Our gray tuxedo cat Templeton rests atop my bookcase

A simple portrait of the master from 10 years ago, sitting on high atop the bookcase as he loved to do. Sorry we didn’t have any cat trees back then little one.

A Christmas Tradition Broken

A juvenile red-tailed hawk looks down while perched on a blackberry vine at Rest Lake at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

I normally go to Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge on Christmas morning, as I don’t have kids and usually don’t travel to see family. If it’s pouring rain I might have the refuge to myself, or nearly so, and it’s a contemplative time until mid-morning when the crowds show up. But this Christmas brought ice that kept me from going up, as it would not just be risky to drive there but they often close the auto tour entirely when the roads are bad. But I can at least post a picture from Ridgefield, a juvenile red-tailed hawk in February 2008, listening for breakfast from its perch on a blackberry vine. It’s the juvenile redtails (that don’t yet have their red tails) that hang out close to the road and allow the tight close ups of some of my other pictures, although I saw them like this a lot more back then than now.